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South African Football Returns in Empty Stadiums

 

This week I had the pleasure of speaking with Njabulo Ngidi, Sports Editor at New Frame, about the return of professional soccer in South Africa under COVID-19. “The beautiful game could give the depressed country some reprieve and an escape,” Ngidi says.

Read the full article here.

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Umhlaba Podcast: Soccer and Education in Africa and America



In the pilot episode of “The Umhlaba Podcast” I spoke with Boyzzz Khumalo and Yazeed Matthews about soccer and education in South Africa and the United States.

Both men are from Johannesburg, but grew up in different areas with distinct experiences. Matthews hails from the Westbury neighborhood, a segregated area reserved for “Coloureds” (biracial South Africans) under apartheid. Instead Khumalo is from Soweto, the huge black African township made famous by the student uprising of 1976. (Click here for more information about racial classification under apartheid.)

Khumalo in the late 1990s and Matthews in the 2010s gained the opportunity to study and play soccer in the United States. Both started out playing at small colleges (Matthews at Tyler College in Texas, Khumalo at Lindsey Wilson in Kentucky) before moving up to NCAA Division 1 soccer at Coastal Carolina University.

Today, both men call AFC Ann Arbor their home. Competing in the fourth-tier National Premier Soccer League, Matthews leads the Michigan club’s attack. He nurtures ambitions of moving up the American soccer pyramid and helping his family back home.

As the club’s Technical Director and ex-MLS player whose career was cut brutally short by injury (click here for his story), Khumalo acts as both coach and mentor to Matthews. A co-founder of the Umhlaba Vision Foundation, Khumalo reminds the younger player of the value of a college education should Matthews’ dream of becoming another Didier Drogba fall through.

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Hamba kahle, Luyanda

By Liz Timbs and Peter Alegi

Luyanda Ntshangase playing for Maritzburg United

Tragically, on May 4, 2018, 21-year-old striker Luyanda Ntshangase passed away, two months after being struck by lightning during a Maritzburg United friendly. Football Is Coming Home extends our most heartfelt condolences to the Ntshangase family.

The funeral service will take place at Alan Paton Hall, Maritzburg College, Princess Margaret Drive, Thursday, May 10, at 10am.

Listen to Luyanda’s 2016 interview with Liz Timbs, in which he spoke matter-of-factly and powerfully about what mattered to him most in life and football, his hopes and dreams for the future.



At this time of sadness and grief, it is important to hear his passion, focus, and dedication to the game. Not only have Pietermaritzburg and South Africa lost a talented striker, but also a young man of great character and boundless promise.

Hamba kahle, Luyanda!

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Struggle On, Luyanda Ntshangase

On March 1, 2018, 21-year-old Maritzburg United striker Luyanda Ntshangase was struck by lightning during a friendly match. He is in a medically induced coma and remains in critical, but stable condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ntshangase and his family in the hope of a speedy and full recovery.

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I met Luyanda Ntshangase in 2013 when I began to work with Izichwe Youth Football Club in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. A self-proclaimed “local boy,” Ntshangase was born on January 25, 1997. He was raised in Imbali (Zone 2), an apartheid-era township outside Pietermaritzburg.

Like many South African boys, he began playing football at age six with his friends in the neighborhood. By age eight, he knew that he wanted to play the game for the rest of his life. His parents supported this dream, driving their son to training sessions, watching games, and providing critical support at home.

He joined Izichwe, named after Shaka Zulu’s regiment, in 2012. Though Ntshangase initially struggled to catch up with the other players who had been with Izichwe since 2010, he quickly adjusted and became a cornerstone of the team. He exemplifies everything that Izichwe stands for: “honesty, integrity, working hard, pushing yourself at all times . . . discipline, hard work.”

When I observed practices, Ntshangase stood out for his extraordinary focus and drive. He pushed himself and, by example, inspired his teammates to strive for their best at every training session. This talent and work ethic afforded Ntshangase the opportunity to train with the KZN Football Academy and play a key role for his team in major youth tournaments such as the Nike Manchester United Premier Cup.

Luyanda also excelled in the classroom. The Izichwe coaches’ insistence on educational success made him “realize there is a lot more to life than just football, you know, there is also school–just getting better that side also.” After matriculating from Maritzburg College, a prestigious boys’ secondary school founded in 1863 that counts Alan Paton among its alumni, Nsthangase recently enrolled for a degree in politics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Balancing these responsibilities was “demanding,” he said, quickly adding that “my school and my football go together . . . There’s life after football, you know?” With a maturity well beyond his 21 years, he recognized that “to move anywhere further is to keep on working harder and grow as a person and as a footballer also.”

Ntshangase_Izichwe

This wisdom and dedication was evident in 2016 when Izichwe played a friendly match against Maritzburg United, the local Premier Soccer League team. Ntshangase impressed head coach Ernst Middendorp, who invited him to train with his team. After a week-long training with the team, Middendorp contacted Thabo Dladla, Ntshangase’s coach at Izichwe, with the news that he wanted to offer the young striker a professional contract.

In February 2017, Ntshangase was selected for South Africa’s Under-20 national team (AmaJita). Upon receiving the news, he told the Maritzburg Fever: “I’m going to take that chance and grab it with both hands and show what I’m capable of and why I was selected. So if that opportunity comes for me–I’ll be very thankful,” he said.

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Speaking with Luyanda just a few months into his professional career, he exuded joy and certainty that there was still more to come at Maritzburg United. “[I’m] having [the] time of my life at the moment . . . it’s just the first step for me,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to building on, something bigger, better. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of [. . .]” Ntshangase continued. “I see myself in a few years being somewhere further than where I am now. It could be at another team. It could be at the same place but in a different role . . . but obviously I possibly wish to be at a bigger club or even overseas, you know? That’s where we all dream of going. So if I reach that goal that’s something I’d be very much proud of.”

Update: Tragically, on May 4, 2018, Luyanda passed away. Our heartfelt condolences to the Ntshangase family. May his soul rest in peace. The funeral service will take place at Alan Paton Hall, Maritzburg College, Princess Margaret Drive, Thursday, May 10, 10am.

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South African Soccer NGO in the Spotlight

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Kabelo “KB” Mashinini, Thabiso “Boyzzz” Khumalo and Thabang “Cosmos” Matsoko are the heart and soul of the Umhlaba Vision Foundation (UVF) in South Africa. In a recent piece published in the Huffington Post, the three men discuss their nonprofit organization that since 2007 has provided local boys with overseas educational experiences through soccer.

“Hailing from the Meadowlands section of Soweto, Mashinini, Khumalo and Matsoko have impacted their community and country significantly over the last decade,” the article states.  “What we’re doing,” says Michigan-based Khumalo, “is bringing talented student-athletes here to go to school and then when they do good in soccer and in school, they get two opportunities.”

“Because most of these kids are like me, where I only depended on soccer, and if soccer didn’t work, I hadn’t considered what else I’d do,” Khumalo said, “I decided to create the foundation to help the kids of South Africa and make my contribution to society using something I love and am passionate about.”

UVF has important Michigan connections through Khumalo and sponsors such as Madonna University Athletics, AFC Ann Arbor, Concordia Ann Arbor Athletics, Northville Rush, and Michigan ODP.

Read the full article here.

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Racial Bias in U.S. Soccer Culture?

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Is there an implicit racial bias in Major League Soccer and other U.S. leagues?

A piercing SB Nation story this week grappled with the implications of a recent study‘s disturbing findings “that black players are 14 percent more likely to be called for cautions than their non-black counterparts.” The study by Paste magazine also found that “black players are [. . .] more than twice as likely to receive red card ejections.”

In the article, I share my thoughts on this important issue with the SB Nation reporter, Tyler Tynes. I point out that “while finding empirical data is difficult, there’s plenty of soft and hard discrimination to believe that bias can take hold in refereeing. American soccer is not excused.” In fact, officiating bias can be understood as part of a broader pattern of racism in soccer, in the U.S. and internationally, one characterized by the practice of “stacking,” the presence of very few black coaches on the sidelines, and multiple forms of racist fan behavior.

“It can’t be denied,” I say in the piece. “Racism in soccer, in Europe certainly, is very real. And, regrettably, despite all the progress that’s been made in terms of messaging and tolerance in local football culture, it’s still there. And everybody knows it.”

But don’t take my word for it, click here to read the full story.

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Laurent Pokou, Ivorian Striker, dies at 69



Laurent N’Dri Pokou died on November 13, 2016, after a long illness. He was 69 years old. Pokou in the 1970s symbolized the success of postcolonial African football and, like his fellow Ivorian, Didier Drogba, many years later, captured the imagination of an entire generation of Africans.

Pokou was born on August 8, 1947, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Growing up in a working-class family, his father worked as a railway company office clerk, football was everywhere. He was first spotted in neighborhood matches by a talent scout from ASEC Mimosas, one of Abidjan’s two powerhouse clubs (the other being Africa Sports).

ASEC quickly signed Pokou and deemed him so valuable that when the Pokou family relocated to the northern city of Bouaké in 1962, the club sent for the youngster and managed to convince his family to allow Laurent to return to Abidjan. Once back with Mimosas, Pokou sharpened his skills and transformed into an archetypal goalscorer: mobile, opportunistic, a fine dribbler, and clinical finisher. It was no surprise that he earned his first call up to Ivory Coast’s national team—known as the Elephants—just in time for the 1968 African Cup of Nations in Ethiopia.

In the semifinal in Asmara (then part of Ethiopia), 21-year-old Pokou netted twice in Ivory Coast’s 4-3 extra time loss to Ghana. He also scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Ethiopia in the third-place final. Pokou’s six goals meant he was crowned top scorer of the continental showcase.

Two years later, at the African Cup of Nations in Sudan, Pokou confirmed his status as one of the most prolific African strikers of his time. His five goals in a 6-1 rout of Ethiopia put the world on notice. The Elephants reached the semifinals, but once again lost to Ghana’s Black Stars in extra time. Pokou’s eight goals made him the tournament’s top scorer for a second consecutive time and his fourteen goals set a career scoring record for the African Cup of Nations.  (Twenty-six years later, Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon finally broke it.)

Unfortunately, in February 1971 Pokou suffered a terrible knee injury during a typically combative ASEC vs. Africa Sports derby. After an operation in France and seven months of diligent rehabilitation, he returned to the pitch.

pokou_biographyMeanwhile, according to the French journalist Alain Prioul, author of a biography of Pokou, the Ivorian President Félix Houphouët-Boigny had been preventing a number of overseas clubs from securing Pokou’s services. Finally, in December 1973 the president dropped his opposition to a transfer. ASEC, having won two league titles in a row, sold Pokou to French club Stade Rennaise (aka Rennes).

As soon as he arrived in Brittany, the Ivorian striker began to deliver. Playing only the second half of the 1973/74 season, he scored seven goals in thirteen matches. The following season, Pokou increased his goal total to fourteen, but Rennes were relegated to the second division.

In 1975/76, he was having a brilliant year with seventeen goals in just twelve matches when he suffered another serious knee injury. After an operation and rehabilitation, he returned to the starting side and contributed six goals in the final stretch of the season.

In 1976/77 Pokou transferred to Nancy where he played alongside future three-time Ballon d’Or winner, Michel Platini. But bad luck struck again: another knee injury! This latest setback sharply curtailed his playing time over two physically and emotionally painful seasons. Pokou decided to return to Rennes for the 1978/79 season, even if that meant playing in the second division. His injury-plagued career in France ended on a sour note: he assaulted a referee on the pitch and received an eighteen-month suspension.

pokou_rennais_recognizedPokou returned home to ASEC Abidjan in 1980. He earned two more caps for Ivory Coast at the 1980 African Cup of Nations before retiring. After hanging up his boots, Pokou spent many years as a youth development coach for the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) and also served as a FIFA Ambassador.

Long before Didier Drogba became a household name, another talented, though distinctly less fortunate, Ivorian named Laurent Pokou did much to strengthen African football’s self-confidence and to legitimize the continent’s players status as big-time stars in the global game.

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